📖 CHAPTER 11 – The Dragon's Unease
The desert fortress trembled.
Seven glowing orbs lay arranged before a small blue-skinned emperor standing atop a stone platform.
The sky snapped to black.
Clouds spiraled violently overhead as a pillar of golden light erupted upward, splitting the heavens.
Thunder rolled across the wasteland.
From the vortex descended a colossal emerald dragon, coiling endlessly through the sky.
His eyes burned like twin suns.
His presence pressed against the earth itself.
"I am Shenron. I can grant any wish but only one."
The voice shook the entire fortress.
Standing below him were the true architects of this chaos:
Emperor Pilaf trembling in triumph.
Mai gripping her weapon nervously.
Shu frozen stiff.
Behind reinforced glass in a nearby chamber—
Bulma, Goku, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong watched in shock.
Far beyond the fortress walls—
I felt it.
The pressure hit me like a gravitational wave.
Not animal. Not ki in its raw form. Not evolution.
Authority.
Ancient authority.
My wings expanded behind me as the sky darkened unnaturally.
This wasn't coincidence.
This was ritual.
I shot toward the source without hesitation.
When I arrived, I did not land inside the fortress.
I remained on a distant cliff overlooking the structure, concealed by shadow.
And then I saw it.
The dragon.
The spheres.
The small emperor declaring his wish.
The blue-haired genius trapped in a chamber.
The spiky-haired child staring upward without fear.
The desert bandit.
The floating cat.
The pig.
Recognition struck like lightning inside my mind.
Dragon Balls.
Shenron.
Pilaf's fortress.
This wasn't speculation anymore.
This was the beginning of Dragon Ball's history.
Which meant—
This world would become Dragon Ball Z.
Saiyans would descend.
Planets would explode.
Power would escalate beyond sanity.
And I was here before the storm began.
Below, Pilaf lifted his arms dramatically.
"Grant me the ruler—"
A crash echoed from the chamber.
Oolong had broken free.
The pig burst out screaming in panic.
"I WISH FOR THE WORLD'S MOST COMFORTABLE PAIR OF WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR!"
Silence.
The entire fortress froze.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Then—
A single pair of panties fell gently from the sky.
Shenron's eyes glowed.
"Your wish has been granted."
Pilaf collapsed in despair.
Bulma screamed in fury.
Goku blinked.
And yet—
Shenron did not disappear.
Instead…
His massive serpentine head shifted slowly.
Not toward Pilaf.
Not toward the chamber.
Toward the distant cliff.
Toward me.
Even from hundreds of meters away, I felt the weight of that gaze.
The air around my body compressed violently. My wings hardened instinctively along their veins, not out of aggression—but tension.
For the first time since awakening in this world—
Something older than evolution saw me.
Recognized me.
Shenron's pupils narrowed.
The clouds rumbled again.
"An anomaly walks this land."
His voice carried differently now.
Less proclamation.
More observation.
Everyone turned in confusion.
"An anomaly?" Bulma whispered.
Goku looked toward the cliffs instantly.
"He's over there."
Of course he sensed me.
Saiyan instincts.
Shenron continued, eyes never leaving my position.
"You do not originate from this world's natural order."
The words confirmed everything.
Not just biologically altered.
Not just mutated.
Cosmically displaced.
I did not belong in the flow of this timeline.
Shenron's voice deepened.
"My power does not extend to correcting such irregularity."
Pilaf looked terrified.
Mai stepped backward.
Even the wind felt unstable.
Then, without another word—
Shenron dissolved into light.
The sky returned to blue.
The Dragon Balls scattered across the planet as inert stone once more.
Silence fell over the fortress.
All eyes slowly turned toward the cliff.
There was no reason to hide.
I stepped forward.
Fully armored.
Black chitin layered across my frame like living obsidian. Four elongated insect-like wings folded behind me, semi-translucent but edged in hardened structure. My silhouette resembled something between human and ant — tall, controlled, deliberate.
I descended slowly from the cliff and landed in the sand below.
Oolong fainted.
Pilaf screamed.
Mai aimed her weapon.
Yamcha stepped protectively in front of the others.
Bulma stared, wide-eyed but analytical.
And Goku—
Goku smiled.
"You're strong."
Not fear.
Not hostility.
Excitement.
I studied them carefully now.
Bulma Briefs.
Son Goku.
The future pivot of this universe.
The child who would become Super Saiyan.
The warrior who would fight Frieza.
Cell.
Majin Buu.
The realization solidified completely.
This wasn't just Dragon Ball.
This was the prelude to Dragon Ball Z.
And Shenron himself had acknowledged that my existence disrupted it.
Bulma found her voice first.
"The dragon was talking about you."
"Yes."
Yamcha narrowed his eyes.
"What are you supposed to be?"
I considered the answer.
Once human.
Now evolving.
"I am… out of place."
Goku stepped closer, examining my wings without hesitation.
"You don't feel like a bad guy."
Direct. Honest.
Innocent.
I looked at him longer than necessary.
Saiyan biology.
Combat adaptation.
Zenkai potential after near death.
If integrated—
No.
Not yet.
Shenron sensed me.
Which meant higher beings might one day sense me.
If I move too aggressively, too quickly—
This timeline could fracture before it even begins.
Pilaf pointed at me shakily.
"You ruined my wish somehow!"
"I did nothing," I replied calmly.
And that was the truth.
But my presence alone had altered the air.
The future had shifted slightly.
Because Dragon Ball Z was a universe built on escalation.
And I—
An anomaly acknowledged by Shenron—
Had just stepped onto the stage before the Saiyan saga even began.
The storm was coming.
And this time—
It would not follow the original script.
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